Mammon/ Wealth

I have always had a tendency to vomit in my mouth a little when "Christians" try to reconcile materialism and the Bible, ultimately exclaiming "Jesus wants you to be prosperous!" When challenged, they then generally cry, "Ambiguity!" then engage their powerful Interpretation (rationalization) Machine!

After my experience in Portland, I became acutely aware on the effect money has on an otherwise spiritual person, and remembered hearing the "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle..." quote from the Bible. That sounded far from ambiguous. Even so, imagine my surprise when I actually opened their handbook to read it for myself! Jesus was blatantly, openly, and vehement in His hostility toward wealth. Pay close attention to the answer he provides the young man who asks what he should do: "Sell your shit and give the money away." (paraphrasing, of course!) Further, it seems to me that the one thing he detested even more was... hypocrisy. Double whammy!

This is NOT an exercise in Christian Conversion, but will take some effort. First, picture your interpretation of "God," then read the passages below, all from Matthew, and tell me where the ambiguity lies:

"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Matthew 6:24

"And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." Matthew 19:24

"The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 20-23

"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: ... Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things... Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." Matthew 6:25-34 (parts omitted)

If I were Christian, and I'm NOT, I'd be paying particularly close attention as to whom I follow as my personal spiritual shepherd. Is it this douchebag?

He, and the thousands more like him, are to me the pristine personification of "blasphemy." In fact, I'm becoming more and more convinced that "Industrialized Religion or Jesus, Inc." (applied to religions across the board) is the pinnacle of blasphemy for what they've done to the concept of "God" out of lust for wealth and power. Even the "New Agers" aren't immune; ever watch The Secret? See the woman in the blue shirt? I called to ask about their particular glaringly hypocritical display. She laughed nervously, then hung up on me with a disturbed look on her face. I know because I was watching her on TV!